Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall

On Thursday night, the Orchestra of St. Luke's presented at program at Carnegie Hall featuring two works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 34 in C Major, K. 338 (1780), and the Requiem, K. 626 (completed by Franz Xaver Süssmayr) (1791).

Mozart wrote Symphony No. 34 at the age of 25 during his final year in Salzburg. Set in three movements, this symphony marked a new confidence in Mozart's stylistic development and helped establish his reputation in Munich and Vienna. The orchestra seemed to play it with a darker, more burnished color than what I'm accustomed to with Mozart. In the second movement, the interwoven themes between the violins and the bassoons, cellos, double basses were particularly captivating.

Mozart died ten years later at the age of 35. At the time he was working on the Requiem, which was commissioned under mysterious circumstances, but had only completed the first half (up to the first lines of Lacrimosa), leaving behind sketches of the remaining sections. Süssmayr completed the score, adding his own Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei, and Communio.

While Musica Sacra seemed to emphasize the sacred rather than the emotional aspects of the score, the singers fully expressed Mozart's anger and desperation over his own impending death in Dies Irae and Confutatis. The excellent soprano/mezzo/tenor/baritone quartet alternated with the choral passages and provided an introspective and deeply spiritual context.

The Requiem was a work of dark and somber beauty and I was glad to hear it for the first time. This was the orchestra's final concert in Carnegie Hall. I'm looking forward to hearing them again next season.

Here's the complete Requiem with Karl Bohm leading the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

Grant them eternal rest, Lord,
and let perpetual light shine on them.
You are praised, God, in Zion,
and homage will be paid to You in Jerusalem.
Hear my prayer,
to You all flesh will come.
Grant them eternal rest, Lord,
and let perpetual light shine on them.

II. Kyrie

Kyrie, eleison.
Christe, eleison.
Kyrie, eleison.

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.

Remember, kind Jesus,
my salvation caused your suffering;
do not forsake me on that day. Faint and weary you have sought me,
redeemed me, suffering on the cross;
may such great effort not be in vain.
Righteous judge of vengeance,
grant me the gift of absolution
before the day of retribution.
I moan as one who is guilty:
owning my shame with a red face;
suppliant before you, Lord.
You, who absolved Mary,
and listened to the thief,
give me hope also.
My prayers are unworthy,
but, good Lord, have mercy,
and rescue me from eternal fire.
Provide me a place among the sheep,
and separate me from the goats,
guiding me to Your right hand.

Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory,
liberate the souls of the faithful,
departed from the pains of hell
and from the bottomless pit.
Deliver them from the lion's mouth,
lest hell swallow them up,
lest they fall into darkness.
Let the standard-bearer, holy Michael,
bring them into holy light.

Sacrifices and prayers of praise, Lord,
we offer to You.
Receive them in behalf of those souls
we commemorate today.
And let them, Lord,
pass from death to life,
which was promised to Abraham
and his descendants.

Lamb of God, who takes away
the sins of the world,
grant them eternal rest.
Lamb of God, who takes away
the sins of the world,
Grant them eternal rest.
Lamb of God, who takes away
the sins of the world,
grant them eternal rest forever.

Let eternal light shine on them, Lord,
as with Your saints in eternity,
because You are merciful.
Grant them eternal rest, Lord,
and let perpetual light shine on them,
as with Your saints in eternity,
because You are merciful.